Today's News

INDIAN LAND – Band director Mathew Willis said he’s proud of how well the Indian Land High School marching band performed this season, its first year in Class 2A.
Indian Land finished 10th Saturday at the 2A state finals at Spring Valley High School in Columbia.
Pendleton High School of Anderson County captured the championship.
Thirteen bands competed in the Class 2A state finals Saturday – seven from Lower State and six from Upper State.

As the county begins to gather information for its first strategic plan, officials are asking the public to weigh in on the process.
Deputy County Administrator Jeffery Naftal said county officials have developed a survey as part of the county’s strategic planning process. He said it’s important council hear directly from residents about the needs of the county.

Get out your red, white and blue to cheer your local veterans this weekend.
The county’s annual Veterans Day parade is Saturday in downtown Lancaster.
More than 70 parade entries have signed up participate.
“What we have now is absolutely wonderful,” county Veterans Affairs Officer Robin Helms said about the number of entries. “This is right on target.”
Lineup for the parade will begin at 9 a.m. at the Humana (Kanawha) parking lot on White Street.

Pat Latour urged Lancaster County Council last week to move forward with plans for an Indian Land Fire Protection District.
The Indian Land resident was one of many supporters, and a few detractors, who spoke at council’s Oct. 26 meeting about the creation of a potential special tax district in Indian Land.
The idea was introduced by members of grass-roots organization Indian Land Action Council, several of whom also attended the meeting, as a way to generate revenue for the Indian Land Volunteer Fire Department.

Wade Hunter is what’s right about Kershaw. The Lancaster County small town has its share of positives, and Hunter is a major plus.
The 81-year-old drew the spotlight at a recent meeting of the Kershaw Town Council.
Hunter, a 10-year member of council and the town’s mayor pro tem, was honored by his fellow council members, who declared Dec. 11, 2010, as Wade Hunter Day.
It could be any day because few days pass in Kershaw that Hunter isn’t doing something positive for his town.

In 1771, President George Washington spent two nights in Lancaster in the home of James Ingram. That home was also Lancaster’s very first courthouse.
The second courthouse was built in 1828 on Main Street. This courthouse sported a basement, first floor and second floor.
This courthouse served 180 years. The latter years beyond its suitability to serve and there was no funds with which to build a new, adequate courthouse.

It appears incumbent Larry Honeycutt has won six of seven precincts to return for a second term on Lancaster County Council District 4.
The unofficial tallies Tuesday night had Honeycutt with 1,652 votes to challenger Philip Tillman’s 1,082 votes.
Honeycutt said two boxes were key in his re-election bid.
He noted wins at Jacksonham, 222 votes to 208, and in Douglas, 212 votes to 79.

If the preliminary numbers are an accurate indicator, the voters in S.C. House District 44 are returning retired educator Jimmy Neal to the state General Assembly for his sixth full term.
Neal, a Democrat, garnered 5,115 votes to Republican newcomer Rob McCoy’s 3,718 votes. If the numbers hold up, that means Neal got about 58 percent of the votes to McCoy’s 42 percent.
Neal was the top vote-getter in 13 of the 18 precincts that encompass S.C. House District 44.

Late Tuesday night, Republican Mick Mulvaney thanked a crowded roomful of Republican supporters at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster for helping him win the U.S. House District 5 seat, unseating longtime Democratic incumbent John Spratt.
Fellow Republican Deborah Long said an emotional Mulvaney thanked his parents, his wife, Pam, and the more than 1,000 volunteers who helped him win the race, especially John Major. Major drove Mulvaney’s bus all over the district, despite being recently diagnosed with cancer.